Surgical training trends in the Americas: A cross-continental assessment of minimally invasive surgery and open surgery among surgical trainees

Introduction: Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has become standard of care in many high-income countries, but its adoption in low- and middle-income countries (LICs/MICs) has been impeded by resource- and training-related barriers. We hypothesized that trainees in MICs perform MIS procedures less often, and that as procedure complexity increases, the rate of MIS decreases. Methods: A 22-question survey, distributed to representative leaders across Latin America, collected country-specific graduating trainee case requirements and volumes for four index procedures (cholecystectomy, appendectomy, inguinal hernia repair, colectomy) using MIS or open surgery (OS). USA data was obtained from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests were performed to determine whether the rate of MIS differed across all countries, procedure complexity classes, and high income countries (HICs)/MICs. Results: Seven experts (70% response rate) completed the survey, representing: Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, and Paraguay. The percentage of MIS completed by trainees varied with mean and interquartile ranges as follows: cholecystectomy (60% ± 54%), appendectomy (41% ± 69%), inguinal hernia repair (19% ± 23%), colectomy (16% ± 29%). There was a significant difference in mean MIS experience across the eight countries (H = 17.6, p = 0.014) and between most complex and least complex procedures (p = 0.039). No difference was found between MICs and HICs (p = 0.786). Conclusions: We found a significant difference of general surgery trainee exposure to MIS versus OS across the Americas, but the difference was not significantly associated with World Bank Income Groups. Different trainee experiences with MIS and OS may highlight an opportunity for international and bidirectional collaboration.